Syrian troops seize another town; protests go on

A Syrian refugee girl peers from behind plastic sheets used by Turkish authorities to obscure view in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians to flee the country since Wednesday, raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
— AP

A Syrian refugee girl peers from behind plastic sheets used by Turkish authorities to obscure view in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians to flee the country since Wednesday, raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
/ AP

A Syrian refugee man drinks water in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)— AP

A Syrian refugee man drinks water in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
/ AP

A Syrian refugee woman holds a baby while drinking water in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)— AP

A Syrian refugee woman holds a baby while drinking water in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
/ AP

A Syrian refugee girl examines a policeman in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)— AP

A Syrian refugee girl examines a policeman in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
/ AP

Syrian refugee children flash victory signs from behind plastic sheets used by Turkish authorities to obscure view in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)— AP

Syrian refugee children flash victory signs from behind plastic sheets used by Turkish authorities to obscure view in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
/ AP

A Syrian refugee man points to the sky after filling a canister with drinking water in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)— AP

A Syrian refugee man points to the sky after filling a canister with drinking water in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)
/ AP

A young Syrian refugee peers from behind plastic sheets used by Turkish authorities to obscure view in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)— AP

A young Syrian refugee peers from behind plastic sheets used by Turkish authorities to obscure view in a camp in Yayladagi ,Turkey, near the Syrian border, Thursday, June 16, 2011. The tension in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, has forced some 500 Syrians flee the country since Wednesday _ raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
/ AP

BEIRUT 
Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships seized control early Friday of another northwestern town, activists reported, as fresh accounts emerged of summary executions to suppress the pro-democracy movement.

Thousands of Syrians took to the streets again after the opposition called for a day of massive demonstrations, pressing on with their three-month-old campaign to topple authoritarian President Bashar Assad.

Troops in large numbers poured into Maaret al-Numan, 28 miles (45 kilometers) from the Turkish border, said Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso. He said other forces were now massing around Khan Sheikhon, to the south, where gunmen attacked army forces earlier this month.

Omar Idilbi of the Local Coordination Committees, which is documenting the protests, said government forces had taken full control of Maaret al-Numan, a town of 100,000 on the highway linking Damascus with Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo. Many of its residents had fled as troops swept through Idlib province in recent days.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

The attack on Maaret al-Numan and protests throughout Syria come as France and Germany called Friday for strengthening the sanctions against Assad's regime.

Since the protests erupted in mid-March, Assad has unleashed the military to crush street demonstrations. Human rights activists say more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained. Some 9,600 others from the northwest have sought refuge in camps in neighboring Turkey.

One of those refugees, asking to be identified only as Mohamed, said he fled with his family as the military besieged Jisr al-Shughour, a rebellious town it recaptured last Sunday.

"I saw people who were beheaded with machine-gun fire from helicopters," and a man tortured to death when security forces "poured acid on to his body," he told The Associated Press.

He said a sugar factory in the city was turned into a jail where they "hold quick trials and execute anyone who they believe participated in protests."

It's impossible to independently confirm many accounts coming out of Syria. Foreign journalists have been expelled from the country and local reporters face tight controls.

Shortly after the Friday prayers ended, thousands poured into the streets of the central cities of Homs and Hama, the southern villages of Dael and Otman, coastal cities of Latakia and Banias, the Damascus suburbs of Qudsaya and Douma as well as the capital, Damascus.

In the northeast, meanwhile, about 2,000 protesters marched in the towns of Amouda and Qamishli shortly after Friday prayers ended, chanting for the regime's downfall, the Local Coordination Committees said.

In the southern village of Dael, activists said cracks of gunfire could be heard at the center where a protest was held.

Some of the protesters shouted against Assad's cousin, Rami Makhlouf, the country's most influential businessman who is widely reviled by Syrians for alleged corruption. On Thursday, apparently as an overture to the protesters, he announced that he will now concentrate on charity work.

"Go play another game Makhlouf," protesters shouted in Daraa, a city near the Jordanian border where the uprising began in mid-March.